1 In order to find the Falkland Islands, you would have to travel south. The Falklands are only 584 miles north of Antarctica. They are about 300 miles off the east coast of South America. There are two larger islands and around 700 smaller islands. There is only one city of any great size in the Falklands. It is the capital city of Stanley. So why would two countries like Argentina and Great Britain start a war over the Falklands?2 Let's look briefly at the history of the Falklands to see if that helps us find an answer. No one lived on the islands when they were first discovered. There were some reports from explorers that they found the remains of early settlers, but these claims cannot be proved. A Dutch sailor named Sebald de Weert has been given credit for being the first to spot the islands. He is said to have seen the islands while on a voyage in 1600. If you accept this as true, it is hard to explain why these same islands can be found on Spanish maps drawn as early as 1520.3 The islands were named the Falkland Islands by a British sailor named John Strong. His ship was blown off course in a storm in 1690. He found himself sailing between the two largest islands. He named the water between the islands Falkland Channel. He did this because the man who had sponsored his expedition was the 5th Viscount of Falkland. Sailors began to call the islands surrounding this body of water the Falkland Islands.